Small things for a bigger experience...

Games Halo 5: Guardians
1

So… Today I was playing Halo 2, the “Metropolis” mission, on legendary, and I felt something awesome.
After the Scorpion and tunnel sections of the mission, I managed to keep two marines alive. When we reached the next section, I noticed that these two survivors were the two marines from the beginning of the mission! Because they’ve already survived the rest of the mission, I wanted to keep them alive so bad! On that section (with the gauss warthog and the snipers) I lost the marine with the rockets. I felt so bad because I remember him scared, wanting to leave the place, in the beginning cut scene (you know, where Johnson goes all “If God is love then you can call me Cupid”)

After clearing the area, I managed to pick up the other marine with the Warthog (the marine that drives it to you was still alive, but I decided to drive myself because you know: Legendary snipers are deadly). When leaving that round plaza, we were reaching the next part; where there are 2 more snipers, a Ghost, a Wraith and some infantry guarding the tunnel to the huge avenue that leads to the last section of the game.

Without thinking too much, I chose to rush to the tunnel, instead of fighting those enemies. I knew that I could end up winning that fight, but I also knew that those marines would be dead by the end of it. That’s been one of the only times I’ve fully felt that I wasn’t playing the game. That brief moment felt like I was actually Master Chief, trying to keep my team alive and trying to reach my objective, Regret, at all cost.

As we all know, this feeling is called immersion, and there are a lot of factors that are involved in order to achieve it: graphics, soundtracks, story, AI, level design etc.

The reason why I made this thread I because I want to know what would you like to see in future Halo games that help reach this immersion feeling?

For example: I just notice how there is almost no weather in Halo games. I want to fight not only my enemy, but my surroundings as well. Trying to fight on a blizzard or a sand storm, or even a regular storm would be very interesting in my opinion.

I would also like for AIs to talk about what we’ve just been through, or maybe even fight harder (or stop fighting) because of how they just lost a close marine friend.

There are many signs that developers have thought about this things: Crazy suicidal marine from Halo CE, the environment from that same level, Grunts running when their Elite leaders die. etc. But with the better hardware of the Xbox One, I would like to see 343 going beyond of what we’re used to.

What do you guys think?

When was the last time you fully immersed yourselves in a Halo Game?

What do you guys want 343i to add?

Sorry for the long post, and if my English isn’t perfect please keep in mind that it is my second language and the forums only allow English posts.

2

I think we are seeing elements of this in things such as Smart Scoping (or ADS to some), it makes us feel more like WE are the ones aiming the gun.

3

> 2533274945679983;1:
> The reason why I made this thread I because I want to know what would you like to see in future Halo games that help reach this immersion feeling?
>
> For example: I just notice how there is almost no weather in Halo games. I want to fight not only my enemy, but my surroundings as well. Trying to fight on a blizzard or a sand storm, or even a regular storm would be very interesting in my opinion.
>
> I would also like for AIs to talk about what we’ve just been through, or maybe even fight harder (or stop fighting) because of how they just lost a close marine friend.
>
> There are many signs that developers have thought about this things: Crazy suicidal marine from Halo CE, the environment from that same level, Grunts running when their Elite leaders die. etc. But with the better hardware of the Xbox One, I would like to see 343 going beyond of what we’re used to.

Nice ideas.

4

> 2533274807231709;2:
> I think we are seeing elements of this in things such as Smart Scoping (or ADS to some), it makes us feel more like WE are the ones aiming the gun.

Though these things may work, they were very achievable with last gen hardware. I’m hoping for 343 to provide something that trully shows the power of the Xbox One. Stuff like the world battles Bungie wanted for Halo 3/Reach but couldn’t do because of the 360 hardware

5

> 2535445384929064;3:
> > 2533274945679983;1:
> > The reason why I made this thread I because I want to know what would you like to see in future Halo games that help reach this immersion feeling?
> >
> > For example: I just notice how there is almost no weather in Halo games. I want to fight not only my enemy, but my surroundings as well. Trying to fight on a blizzard or a sand storm, or even a regular storm would be very interesting in my opinion.
> >
> > I would also like for AIs to talk about what we’ve just been through, or maybe even fight harder (or stop fighting) because of how they just lost a close marine friend.
> >
> > There are many signs that developers have thought about this things: Crazy suicidal marine from Halo CE, the environment from that same level, Grunts running when their Elite leaders die. etc. But with the better hardware of the Xbox One, I would like to see 343 going beyond of what we’re used to.
>
>
> Nice ideas.

thanks

6

> 2533274945679983;4:
> > 2533274807231709;2:
> > I think we are seeing elements of this in things such as Smart Scoping (or ADS to some), it makes us feel more like WE are the ones aiming the gun.
>
>
> Though these things may work, they were very achievable with last gen hardware. I’m hoping for 343 to provide something that trully shows the power of the Xbox One. Stuff like the world battles Bungie wanted for Halo 3/Reach but couldn’t do because of the 360 hardware

Yeah or a big warthog war with tanks ghosts pelicans and hundret of units…

7

Really want different weather conditions, such as heavy rain, snow and so on. Il would be a GREAT new feature in the franchise.

8

> 2533274945679983;1:
> So… Today I was playing Halo 2, the “Metropolis” mission, on legendary, and I felt something awesome.
> After the Scorpion and tunnel sections of the mission, I managed to keep two marines alive. When we reached the next section, I noticed that these two survivors were the two marines from the beginning of the mission! Because they’ve already survived the rest of the mission, I wanted to keep them alive so bad! On that section (with the gauss warthog and the snipers) I lost the marine with the rockets. I felt so bad because I remember him scared, wanting to leave the place, in the beginning cut scene (you know, where Johnson goes all “If God is love then you can call me Cupid”)
>
> After clearing the area, I managed to pick up the other marine with the Warthog (the marine that drives it to you was still alive, but I decided to drive myself because you know: Legendary snipers are deadly). When leaving that round plaza, we were reaching the next part; where there are 2 more snipers, a Ghost, a Wraith and some infantry guarding the tunnel to the huge avenue that leads to the last section of the game.
>
> Without thinking too much, I chose to rush to the tunnel, instead of fighting those enemies. I knew that I could end up winning that fight, but I also knew that those marines would be dead by the end of it. That’s been one of the only times I’ve fully felt that I wasn’t playing the game. That brief moment felt like I was actually Master Chief, trying to keep my team alive and trying to reach my objective, Regret, at all cost.
>
> As we all know, this feeling is called immersion, and there are a lot of factors that are involved in order to achieve it: graphics, soundtracks, story, AI, level design etc.
>
> The reason why I made this thread I because I want to know what would you like to see in future Halo games that help reach this immersion feeling?
>
> For example: I just notice how there is almost no weather in Halo games. I want to fight not only my enemy, but my surroundings as well. Trying to fight on a blizzard or a sand storm, or even a regular storm would be very interesting in my opinion.
>
> I would also like for AIs to talk about what we’ve just been through, or maybe even fight harder (or stop fighting) because of how they just lost a close marine friend.
>
> There are many signs that developers have thought about this things: Crazy suicidal marine from Halo CE, the environment from that same level, Grunts running when their Elite leaders die. etc. But with the better hardware of the Xbox One, I would like to see 343 going beyond of what we’re used to.
>
> What do you guys think?
>
> When was the last time you fully immersed yourselves in a Halo Game?
>
> What do you guys want 343i to add?
>
> Sorry for the long post, and if my English isn’t perfect please keep in mind that it is my second language and the forums only allow English posts.

My Halo 2 experience in a nutshell

9

I like your ideas.

in GTA V sometimes I’ll pick a random pedestrian and follow them just to see where they go and what they do. It’s really fascinating they almost seem real sometimes.

10

> 2533274851684756;9:
> I like your ideas.
>
> in GTA V sometimes I’ll pick a random pedestrian and follow them just to see where they go and what they do. It’s really fascinating they almost seem real sometimes.

You ever tried it with the Master Chief cosplay guy? Some of the stuff he does is hilarious.

11

> 2535435268621863;6:
> > 2533274945679983;4:
> > > 2533274807231709;2:
> > > I think we are seeing elements of this in things such as Smart Scoping (or ADS to some), it makes us feel more like WE are the ones aiming the gun.
> >
> >
> > Though these things may work, they were very achievable with last gen hardware. I’m hoping for 343 to provide something that trully shows the power of the Xbox One. Stuff like the world battles Bungie wanted for Halo 3/Reach but couldn’t do because of the 360 hardware
>
>
> Yeah or a big warthog war with tanks ghosts pelicans and hundret of units…

Like what we almost got on that Halo Reach cutscene!!! I thought that fight would be awesome… then Kat crashed our Warthog out of the huge battle…

12

> 2533274880738480;7:
> Really want different weather conditions, such as heavy rain, snow and so on. Il would be a GREAT new feature in the franchise.

I know, i was very surprised when I realized we’ve never had this in Halo so far. Let’s hope something like this is already in Halo 5, if it is not then lets reach 343i so they add this kind of things in future games

13

> 2533274932540799;10:
> > 2533274851684756;9:
> > I like your ideas.
> >
> > in GTA V sometimes I’ll pick a random pedestrian and follow them just to see where they go and what they do. It’s really fascinating they almost seem real sometimes.
>
>
> You ever tried it with the Master Chief cosplay guy? Some of the stuff he does is hilarious.

Seems like a good idea! sadly my 360 won’t read any disc now… and I don’t want to buy GTA V again as it wasn’t as great as I wanted it to be.
I do want t try the first person mode though.

14

I remember I had a huge immersion with the game during Halo 4.

Those Forerunner Towers once out of the cave during the 2nd stage. The soundtrack, the environment… I felt like I was literally seeing those Forerunner structures in real life.

When the song “117” was playing in the background during that flight part.

Also during when Chief yelled out Cortana’s name with that tone (revealing his EMOTIONS) after the Didact destroyed the panel Cortana was on.

And etc…

That’s why I prefer characters who’s emotions and personality actually change during certain situations… Even if he/she can be an a**. (like Del Rio, Lasky, and Palmer) over characters who’s emotions seem to remain constant throughout the entire game (like Johnson always being sarcastic, Miranda, Cap Keyes).

I want my emotions tested. I want them to jump around throughout the game. So that way, I can relate myself to the game.

15

I LOVE THIS IDEA!!!
Halo is already pretty immersive but if 343 did this it would really awesome.
Good post.

16

Now that Locke and Chief both seem to have squads, there could be more direct interaction between them throughout gameplay and story sections, which would help add to the immersion (rather than them being aimless bots that don’t react to any given situation). We’ve already seen this applied to multiplayer with the Spartan Chatter, so I have a feeling it’ll be in the Campaign as well.

Emotional reactions in gameplay would also be interesting, like you suggested. When a marine dies, his marine friend could either break down or get bloodthirsty.

The best thing to get immersion in a game, in my opinion, is world-building. What I mean by that is that 343i should strive to create very believable environments- environments that tell a story of their own, should a player look at the little details. It can begin with things like adding wildlife and changing weather systems, maybe even some day/night cycles in between different segments of a mission. It could be much deeper as well: maybe there could be battles raging in the background of our missions which we can choose to participate in (and affect the involved characters) or to stick to the main objective. Imagine a city mission where there is a Scarab tearing UNSC forces apart, but the Scarab isn’t your objective and fighting it would require a significant detour. But if you don’t fight it, you hear some Captain losing the battle on the comm chatter and possibly dying.

Obviously sounds and visuals are very important as well. Stepping on a puddle shouldn’t make the same sound as stepping on a floor, and stepping on the floor shouldn’t make the same sound as stepping on earth or wood or plants/grass/wheat fields. If it’s raining, add a drip effect to the visor. If it’s foggy, play around with the lighting and the flashlight.

Another element that can increase immersion is interactable environments. Whether it’s destructible features or buttons that activate things or open doorways, it makes you feel like you have more of an affect on the environment.

By the way, I love your post and agree about immersion being awesome.

17

One of the most immersive games i’ve ever played was Metroid Prime on the Nintendo Gamecube. I think Halo could learn a lot of ideas from this game that could add to the experience. Like for example when you first land on the alien planet of Tallon IV, as you look up droplets of rain hit your visor, and as you walk under waterfalls your vision is distorted for a second as water runs down your helmet. These are just a few examples I could think of off the top of my head.

18

I want the option to drive warthogs in 1st person, as it would add a whole new difficulty to using them, and it would feel like your actually DRIVING them. The warthog run in H3 was fun, don’t get me wrong. But I felt like it was a bit “boring.” The large jumps, the Sentinels shooting at you, the exploding ground was pretty cool. But I felt like it would be so much better if you could drive in 1st person if you wanted. The limited visibility would require true driving skill, which has kinda been lost in Halo, since now everyone slams into walls and other vehicles instead of slowing down a little and going around. Everyone has played too many racing games where they have to drive fast, and those games have influenced driving on Halo.

I’m not saying a 1st person option would fix all this, but I’m saying some people who would try this may improve their driving, and let me tell you, some people really suck at it.

But yea, I’m a soft-hearted person and I hate seeing my marines die (I usually revert to last checkpoint if even one dies)

19

> 2533274945679983;1:
> So… Today I was playing Halo 2, the “Metropolis” mission, on legendary, and I felt something awesome.
> This never equals anything good. Uh oh.
> After the Scorpion and tunnel sections of the mission, I managed to keep two marines alive. I managed to get the tank over the wall, and have them all survive… in legendary. Then immediately out the door, they ran out and got sniped. Rofl When we reached the next section, I noticed that these two survivors were the two marines from the beginning of the mission! It’s a continuous mission, of course they are there. It didn’t have to load a whole new level, it was already loaded. Because they’ve already survived the rest of the mission, I wanted to keep them alive so bad! If it were on easy, or normal, it’s quite simple. On that section (with the gauss warthog and the snipers) I lost the marine with the rockets. Okay… I felt so bad because I remember him scared, wanting to leave the place, in the beginning cut scene (you know, where Johnson goes all “If God is love then you can call me Cupid”) Uh, k.
>
> After clearing the area, I managed to pick up the other marine with the Warthog (the marine that drives it to you was still alive, but I decided to drive myself because you know: Legendary snipers are deadly). When leaving that round plaza, we were reaching the next part; where there are 2 more snipers, a Ghost, a Wraith and some infantry guarding the tunnel to the huge avenue that leads to the last section of the game.
>
> Without thinking too much, I chose to rush to the tunnel, instead of fighting those enemies. I knew that I could end up winning that fight, but I also knew that those marines would be dead by the end of it. That’s been one of the only times I’ve fully felt that I wasn’t playing the game. That brief moment felt like I was actually Master Chief, trying to keep my team alive and trying to reach my objective, Regret, at all cost. They die all the time, constantly. Regardless of what you did, the ghost, or the wraith would have killed them.
>
> As we all know, this feeling is called immersion, and there are a lot of factors that are involved in order to achieve it: graphics, soundtracks, story, AI, level design etc.
> Hold on. To that feeling.
>
> The reason why I made this thread I because I want to know what would you like to see in future Halo games that help reach this immersion feeling?
> None of them have done this, because I don’t immerse myself into video games. Although, I have heard that they ALL do this for some people.
>
> For example: I just notice how there is almost no weather in Halo games. I want to fight not only my enemy, but my surroundings as well. Trying to fight on a blizzard or a sand storm, or even a regular storm would be very interesting in my opinion
> The last time they used ‘fog’ it became a nuisance and no one wanted it any more. I don’t expect for them to bring this in, because it’s not necessary for the story, and causes issues. Granted, it was 360, but still.
>
> I would also like for AIs to talk about what we’ve just been through, or maybe even fight harder (or stop fighting) because of how they just lost a close marine friend.
> **No. No. NO. They already have the AIs spamming crap during the MP games, and I hated that already. Not necessary, or immersive. It’s just a script of nothing special.**There are many signs that developers have thought about this things: Crazy suicidal marine from Halo CE, the environment from that same level, Grunts running when their Elite leaders die. etc. But with the better hardware of the Xbox One, I would like to see 343 going beyond of what we’re used to.
> This was Bungie, where they thought it was hilarious, 343i doesn’t seem to think the same as a whole. What do you guys think?
>
> When was the last time you fully immersed yourselves in a Halo Game?
>
> What do you guys want 343i to add?
>
> Sorry for the long post, and if my English isn’t perfect please keep in mind that it is my second language and the forums only allow English posts.

20

> 2533274945679983;1:
> The reason why I made this thread I because I want to know what would you like to see in future Halo games that help reach this immersion feeling?

The first thing that comes to mind is the option to stay in first person view at all times (excluding cut scenes, of course). It’s harder for me to stay immersed while in a vehicle because it’s always in the back of my mind that what I’m seeing on the screen couldn’t possibly be what the MC (or whatever character I’m playing as) sees from inside the vehicle.

> 2533274945679983;1:
> Sorry for the long post, and if my English isn’t perfect please keep in mind that it is my second language and the forums only allow English posts.

Well done. I couldn’t tell.